In The Spotlight

House Winners Raised a Record Average of $1.1 Million

In Races Where Challengers Beat the Incumbents:
Successful Challengers Raised $1.4 Million
Defeated Incumbents $2.2 Million
Parties Spent Average of $2.2 Million

The Price of Victory

Successful House candidates appear to have raised and spent a record
amount of money in 2006. Based on the amount the most recent Federal
Election Commission reports available (through mid-October) the average
House winner raised $1.14 million in 2006. This is more than 10 percent
above the $1 million winners had raised at the same time in 2004. (The
2006 figures do not count the races still outstanding. These races are
not expected to change the overall averages significantly.)

The amount of money candidates raise by mid-October is a good indicator of total amounts they
spend through Election Day.
According to the FEC, during the 2004 election money raised by
mid-October represented 99 percent of the total
amount spent during the full cycle.

Successful Challengers and Defeated Incumbents: As has been true in most election cycles since public disclosure,
successful challengers did not raise as much as the incumbents they beat.
The nineteen confirmed winning House challengers raised an average
of $1.4 million by mid-October, which was only slightly more than the
five successful challengers of 2004. The
defeated incumbents raised an average of $2.2 million, compared to an average of $1.1 million for
all incumbents who won.

Party spending:
The national parties played a crucial role in competitive races during
this cycle, providing $131 million dollars in independent spending
since September 1. In races where the challenger won, the parties
together averaged $2.2 million in independent expenditures during the
same period. The Republican Party spent $177,000 more on average than
the Democratic Party in these races.

More detailed information, with updated figures,
will be available in coming days from
the Campaign Finance Institute.

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The Campaign Finance Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit
institute affiliated with the George Washington University that conducts
objective research and education, empanels task forces and makes
recommendations for policy change in the field of campaign finance.
Statements of the Campaign Finance Institute and its Task Forces do not
necessarily reflect the views of CFI's Trustees or financial supporters.